I've been looking for a used bass boat, preferable $3000 or less. Have not been able to find anything to suit me yet. So I've been looking at a new Tracker 170 TX with Merc 50HP. I've never had an aluminum boat before. Always had fiberglass. Can anyone tell me pros & cons of this boat. Mostly will be fishing smaller lakes for crappie. Thanks...

Several viewers but no responses... This boat that bad or something???

My step dad has an 80's model of that boat. He loves it. I looked at the 08 170 TX w/ the 50hp also until I went to the show room to actually see one. The 175 was sitting next to it. Both boats are great. I'm going for the 175 because for more room & storage. I ordered mine with a 75 4stroke, hopefully it will be in buy the end of the week! I've read alot of reveiws for these boats and have not seen any major problems. You could drive these boats through just about anything, rather than scratching a fiberglass boat. They are not as fast as a glass boat if that is an issue for you.

I also was looking at the tracker boats (170 and 175) when i first started looking at boats. They seem to be good boats except for some stability issues that they had in the past. Some previous owners had told me that the boat was pretty tipsy from side to side when walking around on the deck. I think the newer models are fixed to where they dont rock around as much. Have you looked at any other aluminum bass boat brands? Look at Xpress, G3 and Lowe. If you are looking for a 16 ft aluminum bass boat with a 50hp motor, look at Lowe also. I think they have the biggest deck of any aluminum bass boat in that class.

Also, if you are looking at new boats from Tracker. make sure the boat has a big enough motor on it. Tracker is famous for advertising the lowest prices on certain boats but they get that low price by not maxing out the hp on the boat. For example: they will sell and advertise the 170 with a 50hp motor which is its max hp rating, but they will advertise the 175 with a 50hp motor when the max rating is 75hp. By the time you max out the hp with a 75hp motor, your cost of that boat is as much as the other brands and many times more than the other brands in the same class. I guess its just a trick of the trade but i wouldnt want a underpowered boat. And trust me, the Tracker dealer where i live has tried to sell me two underpowered boats on two different occations.

Thanks for the info. Looking at the tracker 170 with the 50HP. Figured that would be economical for the type of fishing I will be doing. Looked around a little bit, but seems Tracker has the best price going...Not to say though, that the other brands may be a better built boat. I've got to keep my finances in mind. I was originally trying to just find an older fiberglass boat, but thought I might go the Tracker route to avoid inheriting someone else's problems...

Thanks for the info...

I had a 1985 Bass Tracker, 16', with a 35 hp Evinrude. I liked it, it was light and easy to handle, and would do 28 mph with 2 guys and gear, plenty fast for me. I also liked how easy it was to move up or down the driveway by hand as needed.

I have a 06 PT175 with the 50hp. Good boat & the performance is not that bad. I've had the prop tweakes & with a light load it will hit 37mph (gps speed).

i have a lowe 160 stinger (16') with 50 hp mercury, it runs 33 mph (gps) and has more storage than any 16 foot boat made and as mush as many 17-18 ft boats...its hard to find a "bad" boat they are all pretty good, look for the features that you care about

I have a Bass Tracker 175 w/50 that we use on the lakes.. With full gear and two people she tops out at 30-31 mph.

I can run her all over Lewisville from tip to tip side to side and burn around 4-5 gallons.

She will also take a beating, not as good as my bay boat but damn she will take larger rollers.

Personally I think she is a great 1 person boat but she can fish 3 rather well but not great. The only thing I hate about Bass Trackers are their fishing seats, damn them, but we added a hi - low seat to the front and she fishs better.

Going to add a 75 opti to her later this summer.


DaveBlank I would love to know what prop tweeks you had done.


-Z-

I started with a 14p Michigan stainless prop. I raised the motor to the 2nd hole. Made note of all the #'s & how it handled. Sent it to Steve. He put all blades in the correct pitch, added cupping, thinned the leading edges, & removed some of the progression from the prop.

With 2 people on a tourney day we will run 33-34mph (gps).

What size prop came on the motor before you went with the 14 stainless? 11in? 12in?

They gave me a 10.5in x 13p which ran 6000rpm. According to their rigging books it called for a 10.5 x 14p so I made them switch it out & then bought the stainless.

I will have to look into it if I want to gain a bit on the top end.



-Z-

Thanks for the responses & info. Decided to go ahead & purchase the Tracker TX 170. Picking it up this weekend.